Manabolts Are Good For You
by River Daughter
Summary: A shadowrun involving a dwarf shaman and the crew of shadowrunners she finds herself working with. Read it, chummer!


These are campaigns I have been a part of with my fiance and some of our friends. This first post is just a thing that got our characters together, the run we did was from Eyewitness. I thought it would be fun to write, and why not throw it on ff.net? If anyone does actually read it, I hope you enjoy.

Cytherea made her way silently down the streets of New Seattle, eyes and ears always alert. People made their way along the road, on their way to stores or perhaps less savory locations. This was after all, a place where anything could be found… If you had enough nuyen on your cred stick, that is. Cytherea did not have much money, herself. She lived in a small, rather grungy little apartment that wasn't in the best part of town. Not that she was concerned about the run of the mill thugs that stood in dark street corners in wait for easy prey. .. Why not?

She was a shadowrunner, and could take care of herself. A shaman with attack and healing spells, and a whip she rarely used hanging by her side. She was a dwarf with good magical abilities, but absolutely no knowledge in computers. _I hate computers_, she was known to mutter quite often, in a world where computers were necessary for most aspects of life.

How had she become a person who would take any job for the right amount of money? Why did she break the law without thought if a paying Johnson asked it?

Her career as a shaman employed by a crazy eco-group (okay… _terrorist_ eco-group… but name one that isn't) had taken a bad turn when she refused to help attack and destroy a corporate building… A building home to the families of people employed by a corporation polluting a nearby river. Cytherea was willing to do what it took, but not when it involved the lives of innocent people.

"Hey, watch it, dwarf," a troll growled down at her when she bumped into his leg. Cytherea's hand immediately hovered over the foci which dangled from her belt, and she frowned up at him. The troll scowled darkly, then went on his way. 

Cytherea was born in tribal lands, and her magical talent was discovered when she was 6 years old while playing with her imaginary friend, a unicorn named Sky. Her mother wasn't very pleased when the unicorn materialized in the living room and galloped out the front door, but her parents were happy to know she was gifted.

The tribal shaman trained Cytherea in the ways of magic, and she found that the totem she was drawn to was that of the unicorn. She had a love of the land and the trees as well as the animals in it. The shaman was not pleased by this decision, and as soon as Cytherea's training was over she was asked to leave the village. Cytherea left her parents with the money they had been able to give her and headed to Seattle in hope of finding employment.

After the fiasco with the eco-group, Cytherea had found a nice place to lay low for a while, knowing it was for the best. But then her money had begun to dwindle, and she had found that her father had fallen ill. None of the healers could cure him, and all that kept him alive was expensive treatments. Cytherea needed work, but she knew she couldn't look for another eco-group or a corp position, for that matter. That left only way to turn. She used a contact to get ahold of a Johnson, and her shadowrunning career began.

Could be worse, she supposed. She could be a ghoul! Well anyways…

Finally Cytherea reached the general store, and the door chimed softly as she entered. She took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim indoor lighting before glancing around. A human woman with a gaggle of little children was pushing her cart down the aisle, carefully inspecting a loaf of bread. A human male with dark hair and clothes was perusing the pornography. Cytherea wrinkled her nose before heading toward the grocery section. She noticed two more people in the store; a male dwarf and a female human. 

"Let's see, cheap food, or cheap food tonight?" Cytherea pondered. She really needed to get a new run…

A sudden commotion by the register caught her attention. A few punks had appeared, and one was holding a knife to the elf who ran the register.

"Nobody move!" the ganger snarled.

Cytherea rolled her eyes, dropping the package of cheese she had been holding. She unleashed an attack spell, a fierce Manabolt. It traveled at light speed through astral space and impacted its target within a second. 

The ganger holding the elf dropped hard to the ground.  The woman with the children screamed and tried to hustle them out the door.

The male dwarf brought out his gun, as did the man at the pornography. Shots were fired, and more gangers dropped before they even had a chance to react. One ganger got a shot in, and the dwarf flinched in pain. He growled in anger, and with a blast of his shotgun that he had hidden who knows where, the ganger that attacked him had dropped. The female woman let loose a PowerBall, and everyone else, including the elf that was held hostage, crumpled to the ground.

Cytherea considered this for a moment, and exchanged glances with the others she had fought with, if only for a few moments.

The store owner peeked out from the back room, surveying the damage.

"Well, thanks. You guys can take some stuff, and get out of here before the cops show up," the owner said, apparently relieved that his store had not been completely trashed and robbed.

"Sounds good to me," Cytherea said, and she snatched up a few first aid kits on the way out. She paused to smile at the male dwarf. "Hold still," she said cheerfully, and her hands glowed as she healed his injury.

"Yeah thanks," he replied.

Cytherea looked about when she got outside with the others. Blaring sirens sounded in the distance.

"Hey, my name is Sakari. Need a lift?" The human female smiled down at Cytherea. 

"Sounds great. I'm Cytherea," the dwarf replied. They piled quickly into Sakari's car, and took off down the street.


End file.
